An engaging, scholarly account of the physical transformation of early modern Madrid from market town to capital of the Spanish Habsburg empire. Escobar focuses on the architecture, planning and symbolism of Madrid's grand central square. With maps and illustrations. The plaza, as Escobar explains in wonderful detail, was the center of commerce and ceremony for 17th-century Madrid, showplace of the Habsburgs. Escobar is a professor of art history at Fairfield University.  (SPN210, $106.00)